Today Mountain View, CA-based AgilOne launched its cloud-based predictive marketing intelligence platform to allow marketers inundated with big data problems to translate data into actionable next steps. Backed by Sequoia Capital and Mayfield Fund, the company is looking to provide an all-in-one platform for marketers to make sense of data in order to better manage their resources, acquire new customers, retain existing ones, and reactivate those who may have fallen off the radar. To date, it has tested out its platform with companies like Bosch, Shazam, and PetCareRx.

Founded by Omer Artun, the idea came out of his frustration at the inability of existing data processing systems to handle inputs from different channels and the inaccessibility of that data while he was in senior marketing roles at companies like Best Buy and others in the retail industry. “I was frustrated by the fact that I didn’t have a good handle on the data, I couldn’t run all the models I wanted to be more effective in marketing as well as building customer relationships,” said Artun in an interview with BetaKit. “[At AgilOne] we’re all about clean and smart data for marketers. We make meaning out of the data and we give actionable suggestions to the marketers so that they can build relationships with their customers.”

The big data analytics platform aims to help companies predict what their customers are going to do next. It includes features like PowerAlerts, which lets marketers know segment-specific insights like who would respond best to which offer; 360Profiles that provide a full view of a customer’s account, contacts, and key behaviors; and pre-built analytics dashboards that let marketers answer questions about why customers are responding the way they are. Users can create segmented lists and deliver them to an email management platform like ExactTarget, launch a campaign with Marketo, or integrate with CRM tools like Salesforce.

The SaaS platform is available for a monthly subscription that ranges anywhere from a couple thousand dollars to tens of thousands with a volume-based approach to determining custom pricing for each client.

“If you think about the day in the life of a marketer, in the old days you would get a report that would tell you what happens. What people need now is to come to work every day and for somebody to tell them that you have 5,000 customers about to leave, do something about it,” Artun added. “Now you know that some customers are leaving…you can start asking question like ‘where do they live?’ or ‘what percent of them unsubscribed?’ and then formulate actions.” Those actions can be targeted discounts or sales geared towards retention or reactivation.

Just as AgilOne aims to give larger enterprises access to their data in a more meaningful way, another startup SumAll, which recently raised $6 million, looks to do the same for the SMB market. Other activity in the space includes companies like Continuuity that strive to provide a platform to help developers build Big Data enterprise applications around consumer intelligence and platforms like Platfora, which raised $20 million earlier to provide tools to help enterprises better visualize their data as a means to drive strategy and operations. Not to mention Retention Science, a startup focused specifically on helping companies analyze their data to retain existing customers. AgilOne’s focus is on being the big data solution for predictive marketing, and that could help it stand out in a sector that continues to see new entrants and is receiving plenty of investor attention.

The company’s focus after launch will be on getting new customers on board, and Artun said they will continue developing the product and start working on additional enterprise applications. Given the rise of big data, tools like AgilOne may just be the thing marketers need to at stay ahead of the game, but proving the the costly subscription equates to positive impact on a company’s bottom line will be essential to its success.

Humayun Khan is a Senior Writer and Analyst at BetaKit. A marketing graduate with honors, Humayun's work experience spans the fields of consumer behaviour with noted contributions in an academic paper published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology and market research consulting having coordinated projects for a major financial services client at Decode Inc. More recently he was involved in business strategy as a Business Analyst for an equipment rental outlet and prior in the National Marketing Department at Ernst & Young LLP. He is passionate about emerging and disrupting technology and its ability to transform and create entirely new industries.